Biography

Alexander DAWSON Junior

Miss W. Biography, Dawson , , , , ,

Alexander Junior was the third of eleven children born to Alexander Senior and Hannah Dawson nee Sutton. He was born on 11 February 1884 at Gladstone in the Ringarooma district in Tasmania.

Alexander’s siblings were:

  • William John Alexander  1882 – 1884 – died by drowning in Gladstone
  • Albert William 1883 – 1981
  • Catherine Mary 1886 – 1973
  • Henry George 1891 – 1916 – died in WWI
  • John McKay 1892 – 1915 – died in WWI
  • Olive Maud 1894 – 1972
  • Myrtle Amy 1894 – 1975
  • George Byron Matthew 1896 – 1982
  • William Percy 1898 – 1945
  • Frederick Roy (James) 1900 – 1982
  • Half sibling Eileen Blanche CAREY 1905 –

On 27 March 1884, his Lordship Bishop Sandford visited Gladstone. One of his duties there was to administer rites of baptism to Alexander Dawson’s infant child. This was probably Alexander Junior.

The Dawson’s were a mining family first at Gladstone and then they moved to Queenstown.

At age 17, Alexander’s father passed away .

Alexander senior passed away from inflammation of the lungs due to working multiple extended shifts in succession. This was not normally permitted due to the poor quality air in underground mining known to cause lung complaints. But in this case it was overlooked because they’d lost all their belongings in a housefire associated with the nearby bushfires. Alexander was trying to rebuild his home and contents for the family. They lived in a poorer area of Queenstown known as The Pigsty, adjacent to the current football ground. [1]

His wife was left to bring up 10 children of which only one was an age to get a job at the mines. Hannah married again fairly quickly as she had five children under the age of seven when her first husband passed.

At some stage in late 1908, Alexander spent at least one evening with Irene Nellie Somers/Clark and in July 1909 his daughter, Irene was born on Bruny Island. This has been proved through DNA matches. Alexander had no knowledge of this daughter as far as I know.

Married life and children

His marriage to Sarah Jane HAWKINS occurred on 17 July 1912 in Queenstown, Tasmania.

Their first child Alexander Charles was born in September 1912 but unfortunately died three weeks later on 7 October at Preston Street, Queenstown.

Just five days later Alexander was involved in the famous North Lyell Disaster. A Royal Commission into the disaster was held in December 1912 and Alexander was called as a witness.

Alexander Dawson deposition about 1912 Mt Lyell mining disaster

Two of Alexander’s brothers were also involved in the disaster – Albert and Henry.

Alexander and Jane’s second child Ronald was born in 1913 and their first daughter Eileen in 1916 at Austin Street, Queenstown.

Alexander was still mining at Mount Lyell North in 1917 when he was brought up on charges of personal negligence in endangering the safety of two miners working in the mine.

In October 1923, their second daughter Olive was born in Queenstown.

His wife, Jane (also known as Jenny), died on 7 November 1924, from an allergy to a bee sting. [2]

Two weeks later Alexander was charged with indecent behaviour in Little Orr Street, Queenstown.

After Sarah died, Alexander continued to work to feed & clothe the family. The eldest son Ron (Adrian’s grandfather), from age 11, looked after his two sisters in his father’s absence. Alexander was known to ‘touch the bottle along’ after Jenny’s death. After Alexander’s death, Ron continued to care for his sisters until they found their own lives as adults. [3]

Ron with his sisters Eileen and Olive

Alexander died in 1933 from fatal injuries after falling at a sideshow and not regaining consciousness when taken to hospital. A fantastic obituary was written in the local paper. An inquest was held and the coroner gave the verdict of accidental death.

Both Jane and Alexander are buried in the Queenstown cemetery

Sources:

  1. Adrian Dawson, email received 7 December 2021
  2. Adrian Dawson, email received 7 December 2021
  3. Adrian Dawson, email received 7 December 2021

Hannah DAVEY

Miss W. Biography, Colgrave, Davey, England , , , , , , ,

Hannah Davey was born in 1899 at Blessington which was over the hill from English Town in Tasmania. She was the 6th born out of 12 children to George and Martha Davey nee Colgrave.

Birth certificate Hannah Davey 1899 TAHO RGD 33/1/87 no 598

Englishtown is near the mountains of the Ben Lomond National Park in north-eastern Tasmania and would have been extremely cold during winter. The closest town is Evandale about 22kms away. Life would have been very hard for this large family. Hannah’s father, George, was mentioned in local papers as tendering for works on the roads near their land, but otherwise was a farmer.

1912 ‘EVANDALE.’, Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 – 1954), 7 March, p. 7. (DAILY), viewed 11 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50641551

Hannah’s father died in November 1914, aged just 49 years. He died at the Launceston General Hospital and was interred in the Presbyterian Burial Ground in Evandale. Hannah’s youngest brother, Frederick, was born just one month before her father’s death so I am sure she would have been expected to help look after him when not at school.

Marriage

By 1922, Hannah had moved to the big city of Hobart in southern Tasmania. She was working as a housekeeper to the Lord family in Sandy Bay. This was mentioned in the electoral roll of that year as being on the corner of Grosvenor and Lord Streets. Her future husband, Henry Lewis England, also lived in Grosvenor Street with his parents. This is probably how they met.

Hannah and Henry married on 9 May 1923 at the Methodist Church, Longford. The following article was in the Examiner dated 10 May 1923.

WEDDING BELLS: ENGLAND-DAVEY. The marriage of Hannah, fourth daughter of Mrs. Davey, of Longford, and the late Mr. George Davey, late of Deddington, and Henry L., only son of Mr. HL. England, and the late Mrs. England, of Sandy Bay, Hobart, took place on Wednesday afternoon at the Longford Methodist Church. Rev. George Arthur, M.A., was the officiating minister. The church was charmingly decorated with white roses and chrysanthemums and autumnal leaves by Misses Gladys Wheeler, and Millie Lee. The bride was given away by her young brother (Mr. Bert Davey) in the unavoidable absence of her elder brother (Mr. W. G. Davey, of Hobart). She wore a pretty frock of white organdie muslin embroidered with beads, and a wreath of orange blossoms and veil, the latter being loaned by her cousin (Mrs. Arthur Sherwood). She carried a shower bouquet of choice white flowers, tied with satin streamers. Her only attendant was her sister (Miss Doris Davey, who wore a frock of white crepe merle trimmed with blue. She carried a posey of white blossoms tied with blue streamers, and wore a gold bangle, the gift of the bridegroom. The bride’s brother (Mr. George Davey) supported the bridegroom as best man. Mrs. Davey (mother of the bride) wore a costume of navy blue serge and a black hat. Miss Gould played the “Wedding March” during the signing of the register, and as the newly-wedded couple left the church, Mrs. Davey entertained the bridal party and immediate relatives at wedding tea at the conclusion of the ceremony. Mr. and Mrs. England left for Launceston, and later on the North East Coast. where the honeymoon will be spent. Mrs. England’s travelling dress was a smart navy blue costume, with cream crochet front and a navy blue and gold hat, with Oriental trimmings. She also wore the bridegroom’s gift – a handsome black fur. Her present to him was a pocket wallet and notebook.

Henry Lewis England and Hannah Davey at marriage May 1923
at Methodist Church, Longford, Tasmania.

Family life

Hannah and Henry had three daughters: Iris Alston 1924 – 1934, Margaret Grace 1928 – 2017 and Phyllis Joan born 1934 and still alive with stories to tell. Iris died one month after the birth of Phyllis, so my mum didn’t get to know her eldest sister. These are some memories my mum had about her mother and family life:

  • Hannah enjoyed crocheting and cooking, especially fish.
  • She always helped on committees at Sandy Bay Methodist church.
  • We always went to Long Beach for picnics – caught the double decker tram at the bottom of King Street.
  • We had no car and no phone and only once dad had built the new laundry and bathroom did we get hot running water.
  • Hannah chopped off the top of her thumb helping with the new building.
  • We walked everywhere or caught the trams.
  • Hannah’s mum lived with us for six months of the year and the other half with Hannah’s sister Lizzie who lived in Lenah Valley.
  • We grew a lot of our own food and dad had a great peach tree in the backyard.
  • We used to have lots of visitors and cousins (who were back from the war) who would stay with us – Eileen stayed for four years while doing her high school study.
  • On Sunday, dad would cook the roast on the fuel stove while we went to church and Sunday School.
  • For tea every Sunday we would have sponge cake and scones and eat at the dining room table rather than the kitchen table. It was a special event.

A few other pictures of Hannah and the family:

Iris and Margaret in the backyard at Grosvenor Street, Sandy Bay
Iris and Margaret at Long Beach, Sandy Bay, Tasmania.
Henry, Hannah, Iris and Margaret at Hobart Regatta about 1929
Henry, Hannah, Margaret and Phyllis about 1937

Henry Lewis England died in March 1963 aged 74. Nearly four years to the day Hannah died March 1967 aged 67.

Henry Lewis ENGLAND (junior)

Miss W. Biography, Davey, England , , , , , , , , ,

Henry Lewis England was the only son born to Henry Lewis and Julia Charlotte England nee Chandler. He was born 12 December 1888 in Hobart when the family lived in Regent Street, Sandy Bay.

Henry’s other siblings were Ruby May b. 5 July 1886, Gladice Emily b. 4 August 1891 and Lucy Grace b. 22 October 1894. When Ruby was born the family were living in Union Street, Sandy Bay.

Henry’s father was a labourer and a road man according to the children’s birth certificates. In fact, he worked for the Queenborough Town Board in various capacities including rent collector and foreman of the works.

When Henry junior was only 17 years old, his mother passed away in March 1905 at her residence in Grosvenor Street, Sandy Bay. By the time the war years came around, Henry, at age 27, was given an exemption due to him having to look after an invalid father.

Marriage

In 1923, Henry married Hannah Davey who was working as a housekeeper to the Lord Family in Grosvenor Street, not far from where Henry lived. The marriage took place at Longford where Hannah’s widowed mother was living. See my post about Hannah for all the details of the marriage including newspaper report and a photo.

Family life with Hannah

Three daughters were born to this couple: Iris Alston 1924 – 1934, Margaret Grace 1928 – 2017 and Phyllis Joan born 1934. Below are some memories from both Margaret (M)(interviewed a year or so before her death) and Phyllis.

  • Dad worked for the Hobart City Council as a street sweeper.
  • He was a volunteer fire fighter and went up Mount Wellington to fight a large fire when Phyllis was about 8. I wouldn’t go back inside our house till I saw him come home.
  • Dad loved his fishing in Sandy Bay but none of us could swim and we didn’t have life jackets. We’d go fishing with Uncle Percy Chandler. Phyllis used to take the fish to neighbours in a heavy steel bucket.
  • During the war years we had a trench dug in our backyard but it was usually full of water so it probably wouldn’t have saved us if the Japanese arrived.
  • Dad pulled down our toilet and laundry, then built a new toilet, bathroom and wash house still out in the back yard, not attached to the house. He made the cement blocks by hand.
  • When the war was over, he taught returned soldiers how to make cement articles.
  • He broke his arm at work and had to spend a few days in hospital.
  • Dad would visit his mother’s grave in Sandy Bay and his daughter Iris’s grave at Cornelian Bay every month.
  • He made model yachts and gave them away. Philip (my brother) has one and he gave it to his son Alexander.
  • We travelled everywhere by either tram or walking as we didn’t own a car.
  • Dad didn’t go to church but cooked us a roast every Sunday when mum, Margaret and I went to Sunday School and church.
  • Dad had pigeons in a pigeon loft and he’d get the pigeons out and I would run up to Fitzroy Gardens and stand in a special place. I’d let the pigeons go and dad would see who got home first, me or the pigeons. That was about a weekly event. (M)
  • He always wore his watch with the chain on it, the fob watch. He always had that on where ever you wore a collar and tie. (M)
  • Hobart City Council had a picnic day once a year down at Long Beach, just where the roundabout is. Dad was a good runner often winning the races. (M)
  • When you went to Long Beach on the trams, us kids would all go upstairs on the double decker tram and when we got to Wrest Point, “There’s Uncle Harry out there!” Everybody knew dad. (M)
IMG_4999.JPG
Pa England with his four grandchildren
Philip, Bronwyn, Suzanne and Leigh
Margaret and Phyllis fishing with their dad, Henry
Margaret, Phyllis and Pa England fishing off Long Beach, Sandy Bay
IMG_4994.JPG
Pa England with his pigeons
Winning a running race
Think these are his workmates.
Can you find him with his hat at an angle?
Yacht made by Pa England and
given to his grandson Philip.
An official portrait of him found in an attic,
hence the spots.

My memories

Henry Lewis England was my grandfather and he bequeathed his piano to me. I remember as a child learning and practising those scales and even now, after many years of not using the piano, I can still play most of Fur Elise from memory.

Mum’s parents were still alive while I was a child but had died by the time I was 10. I can remember visiting them at their house and having meals there. The main thing I remember is their toilet was outside. Pa England had lots of birds and loved growing fruit trees while Nanna England kept the house tidy and it was always warm and welcoming.